http://mmajunkie.comKILLEEN, Texas – Which Melvin Guillard would show up for UFC Fight Night 23? The fast-rising lightweight contender answered that question emphatically with a first-round knockout of Evan Dunham.

Guillard’s impressive and trademark performance capped off the second installment of “UFC Fights for the Troops,” a UFC event series that serves as a fundraiser for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

The event took place Saturday in front of active military personnel at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, and the night’s main card aired on Spike TV after a four-fight preliminary-card stream on Facebook.

Guillard, whose inconsistency often mirrored a questionable commitment to the sport, has transformed himself in recent years, thanks largely to Greg Jackson’s camp. The “new” Guillard has seen the fruits of his labor, and against Dunham, he picked up his seventh win in eight fights.

Guillard’s quick hands and light feet wasted little time picking apart fellow contender Dunham, who simply was too slow to the punch. Guillard first dropped him with a left-right combo and then wobbled him again with a vicious uppercut. The blows kept coming as Guillard delivered a series of knee strikes to the head that set up the knockout win just three minutes into the fight.

After the fight, Guillard made some bold predictions.“I want my title shot,” he said. “I’m the dark horse in this game at 155. No disrespect to anybody in my weight class, but I am the best 155-pound fighter in the UFC. … You keep lining them up, and I’ll keep knocking them down. And I will go undefeated in 2011, and I will get a title by the end of 2011 or by 2012 at the latest.”

Dunham (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who was coming off a controversial decision loss to former champ Sean Sherk in September, suffers the first decisive defeat of his pro career.
Mitrione KOs Hague, remains undefeated

At some point, even his harshest critics have to admit Matt Mitrione has graduated from “former NFL player” to legit MMA fighter.

Again showing marked improvement from fight to fight, Mitrione remained light on his feet, avoided Tim Hague’s takedown attempts, and ultimately stopped the fight with a straight left that dropped his opponent and set up a quick barrage of ground and pound.

The ending came just three minutes into the fight.

Mitrione, who played for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings before joining “The Ultimate Fighter 10,” moved well for a big man. The Duke Roufus-trained fighter said he’s modeling his game after a guy half his size: the UFC’s bantamweight champion, whose uses a trademark herky-jerky style.

“For this fight, I wanted to emulate Dominick Cruz,” he said. “I wanted to be a 260-pound Dominick Cruz.”

Mitrione (4-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) remains undefeated with his win. But Hague (12-5 MMA, 1-4 UFC), who recently fought his way back into the organization after regional wins over Travis Wiuff and Zak Jensen, has dropped four straight in the UFC.

Hominick secures title shot with quick win

Mark Hominick wasted little time in claiming his title shot. And he suffered virtually no damage in doing it.

Hominick, whom UFC president Dana White promised a UFC 129 title shot with featherweight champion Jose Aldo if victorious on Saturday, quickly tagged opponent George Roop with pinpoint-accurate strikes that set up a quick first-round knockout victory.

Hominick first dropped his opponent with a right hook, and he then wobbled the lanky fighter with a straight left and follow-up right. The fight-stopping blow came seconds later when Roop was floored and dazed with another lunging left hook. Hominick delivered a quick followup punch to the face of his downed opponent, which forced the referee’s intervention at the 1:28 mark of the opening round.

Roop initially protested the stoppage but stumbled when he got to his feet. In fact, Hominick’s embrace likely kept Roop, who’s usually a training partner as Shawn Tompkins’ Las Vegas gym, from taking another tumble.

For Hominick, it was just the performance he needed going into his April 30 title fight.

“I know if you’re next in line for a title shot, you need to go out and prove it, and I think I did with my punches,” he said. “Jose is next. I think he’s the best pound for pound, but he’s never faced someone like me, and I’m going to prove it.”

Hominick (20-8 MMA, 3-0 UFC), fighting in the UFC for the first time since a pair of wins in 2006, now has won five straight fights and seven of his past eight. Roop (11-7-1 MMA, 1-3 UFC), a cast member from “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ who eventually migrated to the WEC, falls to 1-2-1 over his past four fights.

Leg kicks the difference-maker as Barry tops Beltran

It took Pat Barry 14 of a scheduled 15 minutes to get the damage he needed from his bone-rattling leg kicks. But he got it.

In the night’s first heavyweight bout, the former K-1 kickboxer slowly wore down a game Joey Beltran before a vicious final minute hobbled the brawler and secured Barry a unanimous-decision victory.

Beltran initially avoided most of Barry’s trademark low kicks, and his bursts of punches and dirty boxing from the clinch actually earned him in the first round on two of the judges’ scorecards. But as the fight wore on, Barry found better accuracy with his kicks, which slowly but surely took effect. By the third round, Beltran clearly was struggling with his balance due to his battered left leg. Only an accidental eyepoke brought a brief reprieve, but in the remaining 70 seconds of the fight, Barry unloaded a dozen kicks that left him sprawled on the mat at the final bell.

In the end, the judges awarded the unanimous decision to Barry via scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

“Joey Beltran, I say it in every interview, that dude is a zombie,” said Barry, who continually fended off his takedowns. “I kicked him him in his face 300 times, and I think I beat his leg to death, and he was going to keep coming no matter what. If we had two more rounds, he’d be hopping around on one leg. That guy is a monster.”

Barry’s post-fight interview initially was an emotional one as he paid tribute to his father, a military veteran who died when his son was just 6 years old. It led Barry to dedicate the victory to the other servicemen and women in the audience.

“This is the greatest country in the world,” said Barry, who also had a brother who served in the war. “It’s an honor to be able to give you a few hours away from your everyday lives, just to relax and sit back. I salute you with both hands.”

Barry (9-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), fighting for the first time since a UFC 119 loss to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, has alternated between wins and losses during all five of his UFC fights. Beltran (12-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC), meanwhile, drops his second straight in the UFC.

Wiman impressive in win over Miller

In the week prior to the fight, “The Ultimate Fighter 5″ cast members Matt Wiman and Cole Miller discussed their the ability to set aside their friendship. By fight night, which included an ultra-intense staredown, they appeared bitter rivals.

The ill will proved more beneficial for Wiman, who used a sustained and oftentimes relentless offensive attack to dominate Miller en route to a unanimous-decision win.

While the bout pitted two of the lightweight division’s fastest-rising contenders, Wiman appeared on a different level than his over-matched opponent. After getting the better of the stand-up exchanges and scoring frequent takedowns, Wiman stood over and stacked Miller to deliver violent bursts of ground and pound. The relentless attacks continued throughout the three-round affair, and Miller never put together any serious threats.

In the end, the judges scored the fight 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 for Wiman.

The fighter, whose brother is a special-forces soldier in Afghanistan, admits that he had butterflies before the fight. But as with a recent win over Thiago Tavares, they didn’t affect an otherwise impressive performance.

“I was going through a lot of nerves before this fight,” Wiman said. ‘It was one of those things like with Thiago Tavares. It’s probably the most nervous I’ve been besides that night. … To get your self there mentally, physically and spiritually, it’s so crazy tough.”

Wiman (13-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) now has won three straight fights and seven of his past nine, all in the UFC. Miller (17-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC), meanwhile, now has followed back-to-back wins with a defeat for the ninth consecutive UFC fight.

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